Nintendo Explains Mario Kart 7’s Multiplayer Functionality

It's not restricted to local wireless play...

When we reviewed Star Fox 64 3D, one of our biggest knocks on the game was the fact that multiplayer action was restricted to local play only. Yes, players could engage in air battles with multiple 3DS systems and only one game cartridge; however, they all had to be in the same room.

In today's gaming landscape, only featuring local multiplayer simply isn't appealing as it once was. That goes double for games that deliver a more competitive edge. Dog fighting in Star Fox can be competitive. But racing in Mario Kart? Marriages have ended over less controversial shit.

It's there that today's news steps in. Nintendo has revealed exactly how they will deliver multiplayer racing in Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS. There's your standard local play option, but you'll also be able to use the system's wi-fi capabilities in order to play either your friends or random strangers whenever you want.

Hear that? The gaming community just let out one massive sigh of relief. Not including internet play for Mario Kart 7 would have been a massive mistake.

Nintendo's taking the action a step further with both StreetPass and SpotPass. Here's the press release for those details:

Mario Kart 7 will also use StreetPass and SpotPass™ features built into the Nintendo 3DS system. Walking by other Mario Kart 7 players in real life with StreetPass enabled allows gamers to exchange racing scores, win/loss records, number of collected coins and other game data. With SpotPass enabled, players will be able to receive ghost data to race against. Up to seven ghosts can be downloaded at the same time, allowing for a full eight-player race. Additionally, a Mario Kart channel will be a central location for players to view information collected through StreetPass and SpotPass.

Mario Kart 7 will see retail on December 4th. We'll have a review before, on or near that date. Stay tuned.